by JL Madore
“That’s shitty, kid,” Brant says.
“I’m sorry, Kotah,” I say, and genuinely mean it. I know the sting of a father’s disdain. “Your mother was right to come. We need to get you home to address this.”
The spark of hopeful anticipation that lit his eyes an hour ago is gone. It’s obvious now that Nakotah is no stranger to judgment yet seems the least cynical of all of us. It will be a true loss if that light is extinguished.
I check my phone as a message vibrates against my hip.
“What is it?” Calli asks. She doesn’t miss a thing.
“The Fae Council has called us for an audience. I spoke to them this afternoon and was awaiting—”
“When this afternoon,” Calli snaps. “Before or after I asked you to give us a chance?”
I scrub a rough hand over my eyes. Will this headache ever lessen? “After, but that has—”
“Really? Even after we talked you ran to them to set you free?” The sudden rush of heat explodes from her and her hair blows back like she’s a supermodel in front of a fan.
“Cool it, Spitfire,” I say, the stir in my slacks becoming a real problem. “This isn’t that. This is about your resurrection and our purpose in the days to come.”
She clamps her mouth shut and frowns. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh,” I say, turning back the way we came. “There is a car waiting for us in the main lot. Sorry, Kotah. Your homecoming will have to wait.”
Calli
The five of us pile out of the limousine that shuttles us from the lodge over to the Bastion castle. The car ride was quiet. Hawk was broody. Kotah was understandably anxious. Jaxx and Brant kept sharing strange furtive glances. And I worried the half-digested game hen in my stomach might make a sudden attempt at escape.
The night air helps but doesn’t quiet the dozens of questions spinning in my head. “What did the historic accounts say about what I’ll be called to do when I arrive?”
Kotah slows his step until we’re walking side by side toward the massive, gold-embossed doors. “I’m afraid, other than finding a few references to aligning the phoenix and her guardians and uniting the realms, I don’t know.”
“Aligning us?” Jaxx says. “What does that mean?”
“Apologies. I don’t know.”
“No need to apologize, sweetie.” I collect his hand in mine and lace our fingers. “You can only find what’s been put in the books in the first place. If they don’t spell it out, we’ll have to wait for the big reveal.”
“And what do eleven geezers in robes know about us anyway?” Brant asks. “Seems to me if we need aligning, that’s for us to figure out, not them.”
Hawk says nothing.
The male who meets us in the parking lot is the same male who announced us at the reception—Gareth, I think his name is. He leads us through a polished marble entrance, down a corridor, and into a secured room.
He stops just inside the doorway and points toward a domed pedestal rising from the floor. “Lock any weapons you carry in the bin and step onto the platform when you’re ready. Secure the door to ensure your belongings remain untouched.”
He stares at me a moment longer than I’m comfortable with and my guys sense it. When they bristle, Gareth drops his gaze and turns to leave. “Good luck to you all.”
Brant follows him to the door, and once he’s out, activates a high-tech deadbolt and punches a five-digit code into the keypad.
“What’s this about?” I ask.
Hawk grabs the handle on the dome cabinet and lifts it open. “The platform to access the council chamber won’t rise if it detects weapons. Many powerful people claim an audience with the Fae Council. This antechamber system ensures that no one will catch us unarmed and unaware.”
“But we aren’t carrying—” My objection stumbles on my tongue as Hawk opens his suit jacket and pulls a gun from both sides of a double shoulder holster. Jaxx’s gun is removed from under his tux jacket at the small of his back. Brant takes off what I thought were cufflinks and hands them over. And Kotah unsheathes a wicked-looking knife from his hip.
“What the hell, guys? Were you expecting an ambush between dinner and dancing?”
Brant chuckles and pierces me with a sultry smile. “We’re more than your arm candy, beautiful. We’re your guardians, remember?”
“I… I guess I figured you were deadly enough with your animal selves. I never thought about packing heat.”
Jaxx takes my hand and tugs me onto a round platform. “Oh, our animal selves are deadly, kitten. But, expect the unexpected. Always be prepared, right guys?”
I eye the pile of weapons and shake my head. “You four are so not Boy Scouts.”
Hawk and Brant join us on the platform and step directly in front of me. Kotah positions himself on my empty side. Jaxx’s arm around my hip tightens as Hawk presses his palm against a control button and we start to rise.
“Relax,” Jaxx whispers. “Let’s get some answers.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Calli
The Fae Council chamber is set in a semi-circular room with the straight wall at our backs and eleven fae leaders in front of us, seated on a raised platform that arcs from left to right. Behind the dignitaries, a beautiful mural spans the long concave wall, depicting a world and history I never knew existed.
A woman stands in the center and opens her arms to us. She’s incredibly tall, with a delicate, willowy frame and a powder pink tinge to her skin. Her eyes are as round as two moons and glisten, reflecting light like iridescent pearls. “Welcome, Calliope. Welcome, gentlemen. Thank you for joining us.”
“Minister,” Hawk says, bowing his head. “We’re honored to oblige the call and eager to learn more about the destiny of the phoenix.”
The woman offers him a private smile and my hackles rise. “Who would’ve guessed this as an outcome. I can’t say I’m surprised that the universe chose you to lead the charge, Barron, but it certainly is—”
Hawk steps aside and pulls me to step to the front. “It’s Calliope who leads the charge, Minister. She is our queen and is quickly growing into her place as the phoenix she was reborn to be.”
A tightening at the side of her glossed lips cinches it. This woman is part of Hawk’s ‘ambrosia crowd.’ The look she gives me drips with derision. “Yet, until a week ago, she wasn’t even one of us. She was raised as a mundane nary, is that right? And an unremarkable one at that.”
I lift my chin. “I am sorry, my CV doesn’t inspire you. It’s true, I’m new to the fae realm. I assure you, fighting for what I believe in isn’t new to me. The five of us will come together and make the fae realm proud in the days to come.”
The woman’s gaze slides over me and stops longingly on Hawk. “Human, arrogant, and uneducated, a trifecta of unattractive characteristics in a mate, Barron. No wonder you sought to break the bond.”
Power surges inside me and my skin burns hot.
Brant lets off a menacing growl as he scans the seated bank of leaders. They’re wide-eyed and staring with a mixture of awe and fear.
Hawk turns with genuine surprise glimmering in his steel-gray eyes to see my skin aglow. “It’s fine, Spitfire. She’s testing you. I didn’t say or do anything to sever our bond, I swear it. Now, let’s hear them out and go.”
Kotah slides his hand into mine and my energy immediately starts to ease. “All is well, Chigua. Breathe. Not here.”
Jaxx
Frickety-frack. I step in front of Hawk and pull Calli to my side to face the council. It’s plain that the Minister of the Fae Council has spent private time with Hawk and is stirring up trouble. Why the hell would she make that known in front of a newly transitioned phoenix who hasn’t come to grips with her fiery side? It’s either stupid or suicidal, and the minister is neither.
I clear my throat and smile at the baffled assembly staring at Calli. What? Are they surprised that threatening and insulting a phoenix makes her angry? “Please, we were invited here toni
ght under the guise of learnin’ more about our role in the days to come. What can you tell us about Calli’s resurrection and what it means to our lives?”
It’s Dane, the Feline Prime who answers. The broad-shouldered male possesses the keen gaze of a hunter and a full mane of tawny hair. Though I’ve never met him in person, his leonine genes are obvious. “When your Pride Alpha contacted us to inform us of your account of Calliope’s resurrection, I admit, we were skeptical.”
I glance sideways at Calli, her skin alight in a golden glow of flames threatening to break loose. My breath catches at the magnificence of her. Every. Damn. Time. She steals my breath every time I look at her.
There’s no heat coming off her, so for now, I don’t need to worry about her clothes bursting into flame and clawing out the eyes of the Fae Council for gawking at my mate.
The leader of the goblin race is next to speak. “There is no doubt of her resurrection. I sensed the truth of her designation the moment the five of you stepped into the mezzanine at the great hall. As improbable as it is, here you all are.”
“And now that your skepticism is satisfied,” Hawk says, retaking his place to my left. He passes an impartial gaze across the panel of fae assessing us, seemingly unaffected by their nobility. “What have you to tell us about our next steps on this journey? Surely, within the recorded histories of eleven races, there must be a mention of a phoenix’s calling.”
Dane frowns. “I regret to say we don’t know much. We can, however, give you something that is meant for one of you, and indirectly her.”
An old man stands next to Dane in the arced line of leaders. He’s a dryad judging by the wooden complexion and the branches protruding from his leafy nest of hair. He reaches a gnarled hand into the front of his robe and exposes the pith of his chest. The crack of wood splintering has all of us wincing.
The Goblin representative holds the dryad’s shoulders steady as Dane bends and reaches into the trunk of the old man’s chest. When he straightens, he holds a gemstone between his thumb and first finger.
He raises it and the crystal catches the light. “The Elder Council was entrusted with a piece of the guardian crystal. Four pieces combine to create the full phoenix’s pendant. The legends state the pendant won’t be whole until your committed bond as guardians and phoenix is whole.”
“Where are the other pieces?” Hawk asks.
“We don’t know.”
“How do we find out?”
Dane shrugs. “Don’t know that either.”
Frickety-frack. Calli, Hawk, and the others look as unimpressed as I’m sure I do. It’s not encouraging when the most highly revered members of a magical world don’t know shit about anything. Thanks for that.
Dane pins us with a look and continues. “The point of the next few days and weeks, and of reuniting the pieces of the pendant itself, is to reveal your innate abilities and hone them to the highest degree. You five need to align as mates and build your bond. Calliope needs to find her phoenix. There is a lot to do in a very short time.”
The crystal rises from Dane’s palm and floats in the air toward us. Hawk steps forward to pluck it from the ether, but it zaps him with a shock as he tries to touch it. He pulls back with a hiss, shaking his hand.
Brant snickers behind us. I fight not to laugh. The crystal floats closer, pauses in front of Kotah, and then Calli, and then hovers in front of me. When I raise my open palm, the crystal drops into my hand.
A surge of magical energy bombards my cells. My cat roars and my muscles tremble with an influx of strength. My knee hits the platform as I drop to absorb the onslaught. It’s both terrifying and invigorating at the same time.
Golden rays burst out of me and radiate like a visible shockwave into the room. As the energy pulse hits and passes through the others, my bond with the quint locks into place.
The awareness of a vague presence in the back of my mind shifts and strengthens into something more—much more. They are a visceral part of me now. My pride. My pack.
They are mine.
Hawk
The five of us say nothing after the golden boy’s power surge and light show. I thank the council members for their help, hit the switch to descend the platform, and wait until we’re sealed into the antechamber before I unleash my curiosity. “What the hell was that, jaguar?”
Jaxx ass plants on the platform and blinks up at the ceiling looking dazed. Thank the Powers he had the vigilance to hold back his collapse until they were alone. Taking a dive in front of the elders wouldn’t instill much confidence.
“Jaxx,” Calli says, hiking the skirt of her dress so she can drop down beside him. “Are you okay?”
The guy’s arm curls around her hips and he rolls them until he’s lying over her and has his tongue down her throat. His cat lets off a throaty purr and we all groan as the flare of Calli’s arousal blooms.
Brant adjusts his stance and chuckles. “So, that’s a yes to the jaguar’s health check as well as Calli’s responsiveness. How about we take this show on the road?”
Kotah helps Calli to her feet and Jaxx gets up as if reassessing the world around him. He holds his open palm out and we all lean in to take a closer look at the crystal. Rounded over the top, it looks like a crystal pie wedge. Only, this wedge glistens and glows with what looks like a swirling eddy of water within.
“Miraculous,” Kotah says. “Did you know three races of pixie harness the power to enchant crystals with elemental strengths?”
“Is that what you think this is?” Calli says, brushing her finger over the stone. “It’s quite pretty.”
Kotah adjusts his glasses and looks closer. “Yes. If I were to guess, I’d say this crystal chose the guardian with the strongest elemental traits toward water and its characteristics.”
“Yeah?” Jaxx says. “How do you mean?”
“You proved yourself an accomplished swimmer when you rescued Calli from the pond. Your cat moves with aqueous strength and fluidity. And when confronted with an obstacle, you remain unhindered by conflict, divert, and stay the original course like a stream facing a rock in its path.”
I chuff. “That’s a philosophical stretch, kid. My money is on the gem picking him because he and Calli have already explored the mating mojo and gone the twenty toes route.”
It chaffs me raw that Jaxx claimed that ‘first’ as well.
Yes, part of my pique is alpha competitiveness but it’s also personal. Calli doesn’t care for my power or money or standing in life. Assessing me male-to-male against three others, she finds me wanting.
I’ll never admit it, but that hurts.
I reclaim my guns and sheath them ready to leave. “In any case, the enchanted gem chose you, jaguar, so put it somewhere safe.”
Calli steps off the platform and moves toward the door. “It sucks to assemble a puzzle and end up missing a piece.”
“Maybe you should hold onto it, hotshot,” Brant says, his chest bouncing as he pegs me with a cocky smile. “Go ahead, Hawk. Try to touch it again. I could use a good belly laugh.”
They all get a kick out of that.
“Yuck it up, Bear. It’s not the first time I’ve been rebuffed by the universe for being the first to try something. The point there is, I’m the first to try while others sit back and watch. I lead the pack.”
The significance of that statement is lost on him. Whatever. I needn’t explain myself or my strengths to the riffraff. I check my phone. Lukas has been busy in the last half-hour.
Good. Let us end a chapter in this mess, so we can move on to the next. I leave the others to gather their weapons and talk trash about me and join Calli.
With her arms crossed, the rounds of her breasts threaten to burst free of the bodice of the ice-blue gown. “What’s the heated glare about, Spitfire?”
She pegs me with a ball-shriveling stare, and I regret asking. “Speaking of you leading the pack, Barron, I’d like to revisit the clusterfuck of that Minister clawing at me. How often hav
e you bathed in her ambrosia?”
Fuck. I hoped that got lost in the shuffle. Guess not.
“Is this what I have to look forward to?” Her icy tone calls the attention of the others, but thankfully her ire seems to extend to Brant and Jaxx as well. “I’ve never been a jealous bitch but something inside me has changed. I get that you each had sex lives before me, but if your past conquests are going to insult me and throw it in my face that you planted your flag with them first, I won’t handle it well.”
I scratch my jaw. “Aleandi had no reason to disclose our indiscretions. I don’t know why she would. And I never reached out about severing our bond. That was a lie to get a rise out of you.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that too,” Jaxx says, curiosity in his tone. “What was the point of her little test?”
“Maybe to see how far I can ram my fist down her skinny, bendy-straw throat?” Calli snaps. “Because that’s where I was headed until Kotah settled me.”
Calli turns and offers Kotah a genuine smile. “Thank you for that, by the way. And thank you even more for keeping your cock in your pants. I am so grateful for your restraint.”
Kotah blinks and then casts us an apologetic glance to us. “You’re welcome?”
“Okay. New rule,” Calli says, clapping her hands together. “If one of your sexual conquests comes into my orbit, I want a quick heads up, so I’m not blindsided.”
The others look as wide-eyed horrified with the ex-lover arrangement as I am.
“That’s a terrible idea,” Jaxx says. “That will serve no purpose other than to upset you, kitten.”
“It upset me to have a stranger making fuck-me eyes at one of my guardians and me feeling like a schmuck who arrived late to the party.”
I open my mouth and hesitate. Since when do I bother to explain myself to anyone? I sigh… Since Calliope Tannis burst my life into flames, that’s when. “Calli, consider the fact that you were raised human. By your admission, you’ve had a handful of partners in your entire life.”
